U.S.
Cricket OpenWashington Tigers Are Champs
Dec. 8th, 2009
Powered by the hot bats of Rashard Marshall (47 runs) and Captain
Dawood Ahmad (30 runs), the Washington Tigers engraved their way into
the sports history books as the Champions of the First U.S. Cricket
Open. Both the Tigers and the runner-up New York Bedessee Destroyers
stormed their way through the highly competitive field of ten finalists
this past weekend. The Washington Tigers won the coin toss for the
final match, elected to bat first and never looked back on their way
to hoisting their U.S. Open Championship Crystal Trophy and their
First Prize Check of $10,000, presented to them by MAQ Qureshi, CEO
of Cricket Council USA.

Rashard Marshall 47 in the final against
Bedessee Destroyers ensure Washingston Tigers carted off the
US Cricket Open $10, 000 prize money. Photo by Shiek Mohamed

Each team
was bolstered by members of the USA National Team. The Washington
Tigers and USA member, Rashard Marshall, earned Most Valuable Player
of the U.S. Cricket Open Tournament by scoring the most runs (162
) over the three days of competition and muscling 5 Sixers in the
final match. Marshall’s teammate on both the Tigers and Team
USA, Tim Allen was honored as Finals Most Valuable Player for his
all-around performance, including his excellent bowling (5 wickets
off 4 overs).

Steve Massiah, Captain of Team USA and playing for the Champion Tigers,
acknowledged the celebrating fans during the awards presentation and
thanked Cricket Council USA for establishing “this well-organized,
historic and competitive U.S. Cricket Open.” Steve’s USA
teammates, Imran Awan, Carl Wright, Gowkaran Roopnraine and Usman
Shuja, were all vital to the success of the Champion Washington Tigers.

New York’s
Bedessee Destroyers rallied midway through their inning behind Zaheer
Saffie (30 runs) and Dennis Evans (20 runs). Three batsman later,
George Adams (22 runs) made a remarkable run before the Destroyers
fell short. Managers Chubb Bedessee and Lester Hooper relied on
the skills of a speedy and aggressive team, which included USA Team
members Captain Barrington Bartley, Akeen Dobson, Kevin Darligton
and Orlando Baker. Hooper was proud of staking his team’s
place in American sports history: “On behalf of Mr.Bedessee
and The Bedessee Destroyers, I would like to thank Cricket Council
USA for providing the opportunity to be part of a wonderful tournament
. Although we came up short, the experience gained from such a tournament
provides our players the opportunity to grow and contribute to the
growth of cricket in the United States."